■V"-'  f  „  ;.. 


"^  Greatest  Work 

-  of 

Sir  Francis  Bacon 

Baron  of  Verulam 
Viscount  St.  Alban 


J.  A.  POWELL 


ii    u  f^  I V  E  li  s  I  r  ^ 


Riverbank  Laboratories 
Geneva,  Illinois 


ze  Greatest  Work 

of 

Sir  Francis  Bacon 

Baron  of  Verulam 
Viscount  St.  Alban 


J.  A.  POWELL 


Riverbank  Laboratories 
Geneva,  Illinois 


/f-s 


«,[>< 


^ 


\^ 


pf^- 


Copyright,  1916 
George  Fabyatj 


The  Great  Work:  Its  Discovery 

The  theory  of  the  existence  of  ciphers  in  P>nghsh  printed  works  of  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  has  been  very  widely  entertained.  Hie 
number  of  those  who  liave  made  more  or  less  intellij^ent  attempts  to  fmd  a 
clew  to,  or  a  solution  for  the  cipher,  the  presence  of  which  they  instinctively 
suspected,  has  been  very  j^reat.  With  the  majority  of  these  the  imagination 
has  run  riot,  and  the  most  fantastic  anagrams,  acrostics,  and  word  puzzles 
have  been  gravely  offered  by  these  self-styled  "discoverers."  Without 
training,  without  method,  and  with  nothing  but  a  suspicion  as  a  basis  for 
their  work,  they  have  erected  their  ow  n  theorv  and  have  deliberately  culled 
this  fact  and  that  fancy  and  placed  them  in  a  false  setting  which  they  have 
termed  "proof."  The  utter  absence  in  this  mass  of  ingenious  nothings  of 
anything  of  serious  literary  or  historical  value  has  produced  the  inevitable 
result  of  more  or  less  tolerant  contempt  and  even  of  active  prejudice  on  the 
part  of  scholars  and  students  of  literature,  who  might  otherw ise  have  been 
disposed  to  approach  the  subject  with  an  open  or  receptive  mind. 

Others  there  are  who  have  seriously  addressed  themselves  to  the  prob- 
lem of  ascertaining  whether  or  not.  in  a  given  work,  the  cipher  really 
existed;  what  its  character  might  be;  what  the  method  of  its  solution,  and 
what  message  it  conveyed.  In  the  few  cases  where  the  results  have  appeared 
to  have  been  reached  by  scientific  methods  an  impartial  investigation  has 
usually  resulted,  either  in  dissipating  the  claim  made,  or  in  discrediting  the 
methods  followed  in  the  alleged  decipherment.  In  all  such  cases  speculation 
proved  to  have  formed  the  ground  work  on  which  the  theory  was  built,  and 
neither  the  theory  nor  the  results  could  stand  the  analytical  tests  of  scientific 
scholars.  Mere  belief  in  a  theory,  however  honest  and  however  strong  it 
may  be,  can  of  itself  lead  to  nothing  of  scholarly  value.  The  essential  ele- 
ment of  all  productive  research  is  the  possession  of  a  theory  for  which  there 
is  a  basis  of  fact — not  an  effort  to  adapt  the  facts  to  clothe  a  theory. 

The  effort,  the  imagination,  and  the  ingenuity  which  have  been  ex- 
pended in  the  attempts  to  establish  the  existence  of  one  or  the  other  of  the 

3 


various  ciphers  claimed,  at  various  times,  to  have  been  discovered  in  these 
old  works,  constitute  a  remarkable  exhibition  of  instinct — gone  astray. 
That  the  facts  forming  the  starting  point  in  the  investigation  of  this  subject 
and  lying  right  at  hand,  and  forming  a  sign  post  pointing  to  the  right 
direction  have  been  overlooked  by  investigators  of  scholarly  training  and 
able  minds,  only  goes  to  show  that  the  most  obvious  facts  are  often  neglected 
for  those  more  remote  and  more  difficult  of  approach. 

In  his  work,  De  Augviejxtis  Scientiarum  (translated  into  English,  under 
the  title:  "On  the  Advancement  of  Learning"),  Sir  Francis  Bacon,  in  the 
chapter  devoted  to  ciphers,  says: 

Let  us  proceed  then  to  Ciphers.  Of  these  there  are  many  kinds:  simple  ciphers; 
ciphers  mixed  with  non-significant  characters;  ciphers  containing  two  different  letters  in 
one  character;  wheel-ciphers;  key-ciphers;  word-ciphers;  and  the  like.  But  the  virtues 
required  in  them  are  three;  that  they  be  easy  and  not  laborious  to  write;  that  they  be  safe, 
and  impossible  to  be  deciphered;  and  lastly  that  they  be,  if  possible,  such  as  not  to  raise 
suspicion.  For  if  letters  fall  into  the  hands  of  those  who  have  power  either  over  the 
writers  or  over  those  to  whom  they  are  addressed,  although  the  cipher  itself  may  be  safe  and 
impossible  to  decipher,  yet  the  matter  comes  under  examination  and  question;  unless  the 
cipher  be  such  as  either  to  raise  no  suspicion  or  to  elude  inquiry. 

But  for  avoiding  suspicion  altogether,  I  will  add  another  contrivance,  which  I  devised 
myself  when  I  was  at  Paris  in  my  early  youth,  and  which  I  still  think  worthy  of  preservation. 
For  it  has  the  perfection  of  a  cipher,  which  is  to  make  anything  signify  anything;  subject 
however  to  this  condition,  that  the  infolding  writing  shall  contain  at  least  five  times  as 
many  letters  as  the  writing  infolded;  no  other  condition  or  restriction  whatever  is  required. 
The  way  to  do  it  is  this:  First  let  all  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  be  resolved  into  transposi- 
tions of  two  letters  only.  For  the  transposition  of  two  letters  through  five  places  will 
yield  thirty-two  differences;  much  more  twenty-four,  which  is  the  number  of  letters  in  our 
alphabet.      Here  is  an  example  of  such  an  alphabet. 


A 

aaaaa 

B 

aaaab 

C 

aaaba 

D 

aaabb 

E 

aabaa 

F 

aabab 

G 

aabba 

H 

aabbb 

I 

abaaa 

K 

abaab 

L 

ababa 

M 

ababb 

N 

abbaa 

0 

abbab 

P 

abbba 

Q 

abbbb 

R 

baaaa 

S 

baaab 

T 

baaba 

V 

baabb 

W 

babaa 

X 

babab 

Y 

babba 

Z 

babbb 

To  F^lizabeth  Wells  (lallup,  a  deeply  read  student  of  English  literature, 
to  whom  belongs  the  enduring  credit  of  discovering  the  existence  and  the 
solution  of  the  Baconian  Biliteral  Cipher,  these  suggestions  of  Sir  Francis 
Bacon  came  with  the  same  effect  as  does  a  bright  light  to  one  who  has  lost 
his  way  in  the  dark  night.  The  subject  of  ciphers,  as  said  to  have  been  used 
in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  had  long  been  for  her  a  fasci- 
nating object  of  speculation  and  conjecture  and  reading.  But  with  no  solid 
ground  on  which  to  stand  she  had  with  the  true  instinct  of  the  research 
student  carefully  held  her  imagination  in  check  and  refrained  from  allowing 
herself  to  take  more  than  an  academic  interest  in  a  subject  already  discredit- 
ed by  theorists  and  dreamers.  In  the  face  of  the  Baconian  passage  however, 
she  found  herself  in  possession  of  a  positive  declaration — a  fact  on  which  to 
base  experimental  research,  a  clew  which,  if  intelligently  and  skillfully 
followed,  might  lead  tt)  the  long-hidden  treasure. 

Careful  study  of  Bacon's  own  declaration  gave  her  the  following  prin- 
ciples on  which  to  regulate  her  future  procedure: 

1. —  I  hat  Bacon  had  himself  devised  a  cipher  consisting  of  varving  combinations  of 
a  and  i  in  a  group  ot  five  tor  each  letter  of  the  alphabet  (see  page  4). 

2. — That  Bacon  had  himself  made  use  of  this  cipher. 

3. — That  Bacon  had  applied  the  use  of  the  cipher  to  italic  type. 

4. — That  the  cipher  consisted  of  the  use  of  two  forms  of  type,  similar  in  general  ap- 
pearance, but  with  inherently-  distinct  characteristics,  distinguishable  only  on  close  exami- 
nation. 

5. — That  Bacon  designated  the  two  forms  of  type  by  the  letters  a  and  /;. 

6. — That  the  fundamental  principle  of  Bacon's  so-called  Biliteral  Cipher  lay  in 
causing  each  letter  of  the  printed  page  to  be  set  up  from  either  the  a  or  the  b  form  of  type, 
as  might  be  needed  to  form  a  group  of  five  represented  in  the  code,  each  such  group  of  five 
letters  on  the  printed  page  constituting  one  letter  of  the  message  concealed  therein. 

7. — That  in  deciphering  (i.  f.  in  extracting  the  hidden  message  from  the  printed  page) 
it  would  first  be  necessary:  (1)  to  determine  the  presence  in  the  printed  page  of  two  closely 
similar  but  inherently  different  forms  of  type,  (2)  to  ascertain  which  form  was  regarded  b\- 
the  author  of  the  cipher  as  the  a  form  and  which  as  the  b  form,  and  (3)  after  assigning  each 
letter  on  the  printed  page  to  its  appropriate  form  by  writing  such  assignment  beneath  each, 
to  divide  the  whole  into  groups  of  five,  and  b\'  reference  to  the  aforementioned  code  to 
ascertain  whether  the  letters  represented  by  such  groups,  when  assembled  in  their  sequence, 
spelled  anything  intelligible. 

5 


It  was  plain  that  if  Bacon's  cipher  as  propounded  and  explained  by  him- 
self had  been  incorporated  in  any  existing  book  it  would  be  necessary  that 
a  search  for  it  should  be  controlled  by  each  of  the  foregoing  principles.  The 
main  difficulties  confronting  the  investigator  were  two:  (1)  to  ascertain  the 
presence  of  the  two  forms  of  type,  and  if  this  was  proved,  then  (2)  to  de- 
termine by  laborious  experimenting  which  form  was  to  be  regarded  as  the 
a  form,  and  which  the  b  form.  Upon  a  correct  solution  of  this  matter 
would  depend  the  determination  of  the  momentous  question  of  whether  a 
cipher  message  was  really  embodied  or  infolded  in  the  printed  page. 

Here  then  was  a  difficulty  of  staggering  proportions  encountered  at  the 
outset.  The  first  glad  realization  of  the  vast  possibilities  for  investigation 
involved  in  Bacon's  declaration  had  made  the  task  seem  easy.  The  princi- 
ple of  the  application  of  the  cipher  was  clearly  stated  by  him.  He  had  gone 
so  far  as  to  give  the  cipher  code  or  key,  and  had  explained  how  he  applied  it 
by  the  use  of  two  forms  of  type.  What  would  be  easier  than  to  work  back- 
wards, separate  the  type  into  its  two  forms,  apply  the  code,  or  key,  and  read 
the  result?  It  seemed  so  simple  and  plain  in  the  light  of  the  inventor's 
own  explanation.  But  how  to  separate  the  type  into  its  two  forms — there 
was  the  rub!     Which  form  was  the  a  form,  and  which  the  b  form.? 

Much  thought  suggested  one  principle  on  which  experimental  work 
might  proceed.  An  examination  of  the  cipher  code,  or  key,  offered  by  Bacon, 
showed  that  the  total  number  of  a\  utilized  in  the  combinations  for  the 
twenty-four  letters  of  the  alphabet  (the  i  and  /,  and  the  ii  and  v,  being 
respectively  regarded  as  one  letter)  was  69,  and  the  total  number  of  ^'s 
51.  On  this  slender  fact  the  assumption  was  predicated  that  since  the  as 
were  used  more  frequently  than  the  Fs  in  the  code,  that  type  form  which 
occurred  in  the  printed  page  with  the  greater  frequency  would  prove  to  be 
the  a  form — provided  always  that  the  printed  page  proved  to  contain  the 
cipher  described  by  Bacon. 

Up  to  this  point,  however,  Mrs.  Gallup  had  achieved  nothing  ot  practi- 
cal value  toward  a  solution  of  the  problem,  other  than  a  compilation  of  a 

set  of  principles  by  which  her  future  investigation  should  tentatively  be  con- 

fi 


trolled.     Conseciuent  events  proved  the  eorrectness  ot  her  method  ot  reason- 
inji  hv  means  ot  whiih  these  principles  were  evolved. 

The  next  cjuestion  to  be  settled  was  "Which  of  the  printed  works  of 
Bacon's  period  should  be  examined  to  ascertain  whether  they  contained  a 
cipher?" 

It  was  to  the  Shakespearean  pages  that  the  speculative  theorists  and 
experimentalists  had  always  turned  when,  for  the  amusement  of  themselves 
and  a  limited  coterie  of  like-minded  optimists,  they  had  turned  out  their 
arbitrarily  ingenious  anagrams,  etc.  "Why  not  be  bold,"  Mrs.  Gallup  asked 
herself,  "and  dig  deep  in  the  very  mine  where  others  have  delved.''  Their 
failure  to  find  anything  except  the  product  of  their  own  imagination  does  not 
prove  that  the  treasure  is  not  there." 

With  the  principle  in  mind  that  the  cipher  would  be  found  in  italic 
type,  if  at  all  (see  principle  3  above),  she  turned  to  an  original  copy  of  the  1623 
Folio  edition  of  Shakespeare.  The  page  containing  the  "Prologue"  to  the 
play  of  Troilus  and  Cressida,  and  the  page  containing  the  "DiggesPoem" 
and  the  "I.  M.  Poem"  forced  themselves  on  her  notice  as  being  wholly 
in  italic  type  (unlike  most  others  in  the  volume).  Further  examination 
showed  that  the  "Prologue"  page  was  printed  in  type,  some  of  the  letters 
of  which  were  obviously  in  two  different  forms.  In  the  light  of  the  principles 
she  had  laid  down  for  her  guidance,  this  page  seemed  to  hold  promising 
possibilities,  and  accordingly  the  "Prologue"  was  determined  upon  as  the 
first  point  of  attack.  The  wonderful  instinct  which,  though  ever  held  in 
check  by  rigidly  scientific  principles,  had  characterized  Mrs.  Gallup's  work 
throughout,  had  again  led  her  to  take  the  right  step  at  this  critical  juncture, 
as  later  events  proved. 

The  first  point  of  attack  having  been  determined  upon,  there  followed  a 
long  period  of  laborious  experimentation,  minute  comparison  of  letters,  and 
microscopical  examination  of  their  differences.  If  the  existence  of  two  forms 
of  each  letter  were  conceded  in  theory,  it  was  fundamentally  necessary  to 
determine  what  were  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of  each  form  and  to 
ascertain  whether  they  could  be  so  declaratively  determined  to  apply  as  to 


enable  each  occurrence  of  a  given  letter  to  be  assigned  without  any  hesita- 
tion to  the  a  or  to  the  b  form.  The  minute  laboriousness,  the  sharpness  of 
eye,  and  the  retentiveness  of  memory  indispensable  to  success  in  such  an 
undertaking,  were  all  brought  to  bear  on  the  work  by  Mrs.  Gallup  with  a 
quickened  sense  that  she  was  entering  on  a  virgin  field  of  endeavor,  that 
there  were  no  precedents  to  guide  her,  and  that  success  depended  on  the 
elimination  of  every  possible  element  of  error  by  the  most  patient  experi- 
mentation and  effort. 

Mrs.  Gallup's  early  tentative  decision  that  that  form  of  a  letter  which 
occurred  with  the  greater  frequency  should  be  regarded  as  the  a  form  was 
of  little  more  than  theoretical  value,  since  in  most  cases  the  differences 
between  the  letters  were  so  slight  as  to  constitute  the  task  of  classifying 
them  and  assigning  them  to  their  respective  forms  one  of  enormous  difiiculty. 

Note. — It  may  not  be  amiss  to  add  a  word  of  comment  at  this  point.  It  should  be 
clear  that  in  order  to  conceal  a  cipher  message  in  a  printed  page  by  means  of  the  use  of  two 
forms  of  type,  the  letters  of  each  form  must  necessarily  have  such  a  close  superficial  resem- 
blance to  each  other  as  to  deceive  the  eye  of  the  casual  and  uninformed  reader,  else  the  very 
object  of  the  cipher — concealment — would  obviously  be  defeated.  If  the  differences  were 
apparent  to  the  naked  eye  on  a  casual  examination,  it  would  be  an  easy  matter  for  readers 
familiar  with  Bacon's  contemporary  work,  in  which  he  had  promulgated  both  the  principles 
and  the  key  of  the  cipher,  to  apply  the  latter  in  deciphering  the  concealed  message.  The 
necessity  then  for  the  use  of  two  forms  of  type,  whose  differences  were  minute,  and  not 
apparent  to  the  casual  observer,  should  be  clear  without  further  argument. 

It  is  not  exaggerating  to  assert  that  many  days  of  labor  were  required 
to  formulate  the  "alphabets"  of  the  a  and  b  form  of  each  letter  employed  in 
the  "  Prologue"  page.  Frequently  a  letter  would  be  assigned  during  the 
examination  to  the  a  or  to  the  b  form  only  to  find  that  such  assignment 
resulted  in  a  combination  which  was  meaningless,  when  the  group  of  five 
to  which  it  belonged  was  compared  with  the  key.  Further  examination 
and  comparison  were  then  of  course  necessitated,  and  a  redefinition  of 
characteristics  of  the  respective  forms  followed. 

One  by  one  the  difficulties — sometimes  apparently  almost  insurmount- 
able obstacles — were  overcome;  order  came  out  of  chaos,  principles  of  form, 
discoverable  in  each  letter,  were  found — and  the  long  hoped-for,  laboriously 

8 


Transcription  of  Prologue 


Troilus  and  Cressida 

Showing  form  to  which  each 

letter  belongs,  and  the 

concealed  message 


PROLOGUE  TO  TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA 
SHAKESPEARE  FOLIO  1623 


abbal 


al)aaa 


ologu 
baaaa 

eINTr 
aaaaa 

oyThe 
abbaa 

relye 
aaaba 

stheS 
abaaa 

ceneF 
baaab 

romll 
baaab 

esof ( i 
baaba 

reece 
aaaaa 

ThePr 
ababa 

inces 
aaaab 

Orgil 
aaaaa 

loust 
abbaa 

ighbl 
aabaa 

oodch 
baaab 

afdHa 
aaaba 

uetot 
aabaa 

hePor 
abliaa 

tofAt 
aaabb 

henss 
aabaa 

entth 
aaabb 

eirsh 
aabab 

ippes 
baaaa 

Praug 
abbab 

htwit 
ababb 

hthem 
baaba 

ersan 
aabaa 

dinst 
ababb 

rumen 
abaaa 

tsOfc 
aabba 

ruell 
aabbl) 

Warre 
baaba 

Sixty 
babba 

andni 
aabbb 

netha 
aabaa 

twore 
baaaa 

Their 
abbab 

Crowai 
aabaa 

etsRe 
baaab 

romth 
aabab 

At  hen 
baaba 

ianba 
baaaa 

yPutf 
abbab 

ortht 
babba 

oward 
ababa 

Phryg 
abbab 

iaand 
baabb 

their 

abaaa 

vowis 
abbaa 

madeT 
aabba 

orans 
aaaaa 

ackeT 
abbaa 

thinw 
baaaa 

hoses 
aabaa 

trong 
baabb 

emure 
aabaa 

sTher 
baaaa 

auish 
abaaa 

dHele 

abbaa 

nMene 
aabba 

lausQ 
baaba 

ueene 
aabbb 

Withw 
aabaa 

anion 
baaab 

Paris 
aabaa 

esand 
abbab 

thats 
aaaab 

theQu 
ababa 

arrel 
aabaa 

IToTe 
aaaaa 

nedos 
abbaa 

theyc 
aaaba 

omeAn 
aabaa 

dthed 
baaab 

eeped 
baaba 

rawin 
abbab 

gBark 
baaaa 

edoth 
baaab 

sgorg 
abaaa 

eThei 
aaabb 

rwarl 
abaaa 

ikefr 
abbaa 

autag 
aabbb 

enowo 
abaaa 

nDard 
baaab 

anPla 
babaa 

inesT 
baaaa 

hefre 
abaaa 

shand 
baaba 

yetvn 
abaaa 

bruis 
abbaa 

ekesd 
baaab 

opitc 
aabbb 

hThei 
abbab 

rbrau 
ababb 

ePaui 
aabaa 

llion 
baaaa 

sPria 
baaab 

mssix 
abaaa 

gated 
ababa 

CityD 

ababa 

ardan 
abaaa 

andTi 
aaaaa 

mbria 
aaabb 

sChet 
aaaaa 

asTro 
abbaa 

ienAn 
aaabb 

dAnte 
abbab 

nonid 
aaabb 

uswit 
babba 

hmass 
baaab 

ieSta 
baaab 

plesA 
aabaa 

ndcor 
babba 

respo 
abaaa 

nsiue 
abbaa 

andfu 
aaaba 

ingBo 

abbba 

ItsSt 
aabbb 

irrev 
aabaa 

ptheS 
baaaa 

onnes 
babaa 

ofTro 
abaaa 

yNowE 
iDaaba 

\  xpect 
aabbb 

ation 
baaba 

tickl 
aabbb 

ingsk 
aabaa 

ittis 
aaaaa 

hspir 
aabaa 

onean 
aabaa 

dothe 
abaaa 

rside 
aaabb 

Troia 
abl:)ab 

nandG 
aabal) 

reeke 
baaba 

Setsa 
aabbb 

llonh 
aabaa 

azard 
abliaa 

Andhi 
abbab 

thera 
aaaab 

mJcom 
ababa 

eAPro 

aabaa 

armdb 
abaaa 

utnot 
baaaa 

incon 
aabba 

fiden 
abaaa 

eeOfA 
ababa 

uthor 
abbba 

speno 
baaaa 

rActo 
abaaa 

rsvoy 
abbaa 

cebut 
aaaba 

suite 
aabaa 

dJnli 
abbab 

kccon 
aabab 

nsaso 
aaaaa 

urArg 
baaba 

ument 
abaaa 

Totel 
abbaa 

lyouf 
abbba 

aireB 
abbal) 

ehokl 
aabaa 

crsth 
baaba 

atour 
baaab 

PlayL 
abaaa 

eapes 
abbaa 

oreth 
baaab 

evaun 
aaaba 

irstl 
aViaaa 

ingso 
aaaab 

ftho.s 
abaaa 

ebroy 
aV)baa 

lesBe 
aabl)a 

ginni 
baaba 

ngint 
aal)lib 

homid 
aabaa 

dlest 
ababa 

artin 
aabaa 

gthen 
baaba 

ceawa 
baaba 

vTowh 
aabaa 

bedig 
baaab 

ested 
baaba 

inaPl 
abbal) 

ayLik 
aabaa 

eorfi 
aliaba 

ndefa 
abaaa 

ultdo 
babbb 

asyou 
aaaaa 

rpleii 
aaaab 

sures 
aabaa 

areNo 
baaba 

wgood 
aabbb 

orbad 
baaaa 

tthec 
baaab 

hance 
baaba 

ofWar 
aaaaa 

re 

Deciphered  Message 

Francis  St.  Alban,  descended  from  the  mighty  heroes  of  Troy,  loving  and  revering  these  noble  ancestors,  hid  in 
his  writings  Homer's  Illiads  and  Odyssey  (in  Cipher),  with  the  AEneid  of  the  noble  Virgil,  prince  of  Latin  poets, 
inscribing  the  letters  to  Elizabeth,  R. 

F.  St.  A. 


sought-for  treasure  finally  showed  itself  to  the  delighted  eyes  of  this  patient 
prospector. 

With  each  letter  classified  as  to  its  a  or  its  /;  form,  the  procedure  of 
deciphering  was  a  simple  step  forward.  Under  each  letter  of  the  original 
text  was  written  the  a  or  the  b  designating  the  form  to  which  it  belonged, 
and  the  whole  was  then  divided  off  into  groups  of  five,  each  such  group  of 
rt's  and  ^'s  representing  one  letter  as  shown  in  Bacon's  cipher  key  (see 
page  4).  Facing  this  page  is  a  transcription  of  the  "Prologue" 
arranged  in  groups  of  five:  beneath  each  letter  is  the  a  or  the  h,  to  which 
form  such  letter  belongs.  Each  such  combination  or  group  will  be  found 
to  represent  a  corresponding  letter  in  the  cipher  key.  This  is  shown  in 
order  to  enable  the  reader  to  follow  the  method  of  deciphering — simple 
enough  when  the  difficult  preliminary  step  already  described  of  assigning 
the  letters  to  their  respective  class  has  been  accomplished. 


Appendix 

The  exhibits,  miniatures  of  which  are  found  in  this  pamphlet,  are  de- 
signed to  assist  the  serious  student  in  traversing  the  path  so  laboriously,  yet 
ingeniously,  pursued  by  Mrs.  Gallup  in  her  pioneer  work.  In  Plate  I,  the 
"Digges"  and  the  "I.  M.  Poem"  have  been  dissected  and  analyzed,  and  their 
letters  classified.  These  poems  were  selected  for  the  purpose  (1)  because 
they  are  printed  in  italic  in  the  original  (a  basic  condition  precedent,  ac- 
cording to  the  hint  offered  by  Bacon  himself  for  the  incorporation  and  con- 
sequent decipherment  of  a  cipher),  and  (2)  because  being  short  they  permit- 
ted of  exhaustive  analysis  //;  their  entirety  within  the  limits  of  the  exhibit. 
The  plates  should  be  examined  from  the  top  downward,  beginning  at  the 
left,  and  proceeding  in  like  manner  with  each  column.  Each  illustration 
in  the  plate  will  explain  itself,  and  should  be  studied  minutely  and  exhaust- 
ively before  passing  from  one  to  the  next.  The  third  and  fourth  columns 
of  Plate  I  will  each  be  found,  when  taken  together,  to  present  the  "I.  M. 
Poem"  as  a  whole.  Three  illustrations  in  each  case  were  necessary,  since 
in  each  individual  illustration  only  every  third  letter  is  illustrated,  and  com- 
pared (in  column  3)  or  contrasted  (in  column  4)  with  the  typical  letter  of  its 
own,  or  of  the  opposite  form.  An  intelligent  following  of  the  translation  of 
the  "I.  M.  Poem"  (foot  of  column  2)  and  of  the  "Digges  Poem"  (foot 
of  column  6)  will  be  greatly  facilitated  by  reference  to  the  cipher  key,  given 
on  page  4  of  this  pamphlet. 

In  like  manner  a  dissection  of  the  "Prologue,"  of  the  "Catalogue," 
of  the  list  of  "Principall  Actors,"  and  of  a  page  from  "Love's  Labour's 
Lost"  is  presented  in  Plate  II.  Each  illustration  merits  careful  study  in 
the  light  of  the  principles  enunciated  above,  and  each  will  be  found  of  ser- 
vice in  fixing  the  characteristics  of  the  type  forms  in  the  student's  mind' 

The  second  illustration  in  column  6,  Plate  II,  is  deemed  important  in  that 
it  show  how  Ignatius  Donnelly,  probablv  the  most  celebrated — as  well  as 
the  most  ridiculed — of  the  would-be  decipherers  of  the  Shakespearean  pages, 
was  actually  knocking  at  the  door  of  a  great  discovery,  but  fumbled  and 

10 


failed,  alrhoiigh  alieadvoii  tlu'  rhrc^liold,  to  liiul  the  true  lombinatioii  which 
would  unlock,  the  safe  in  which  the  treasure  lay.  It  fiirnishes  an  instructive 
comparison  between  his  uni)roducti\'e  labors  and  the  scientific  results 
achieved  by   Mrs.  (lallup. 

Accompanying  this  pamphlet  are  cards  designated  as  "Classifiers." 
The  purpose  tor  which  these  have  been  prepared  is  to  assist  the  student  in 
examining  and  classifying  the  printed  italic  type  of  the  Shakespearean 
page.  When  the  slot  of  the  Classifier  is  placed  over  any  line  of  the  original 
the  blank  space  permits  an  examination  of  the  line  thus  exposed.  The 
letters  above  and  below  the  blank  then  serve  to  show  the  typical  or  char- 
acteristic form  of  the  a  or  b  font.  Thus  a'comparison  of  a  given  letter  on 
the  original  page  with  its  typical  a  ox  b  form  on  the  Classifier  will  enable  the 
student  with  little  difficulty  to  determine  the  form  to  which  the  letter  ex- 
amined belongs.  The  use  of  these  Classifiers  will  be  found  of  great  value  in 
fixing  in  the  student's  memory  the  characteristics  of  the  two  forms,  which 
will  result  in  the  facilitating  his  marking  of  the  original,  and  of  reaching  the 
consequent  decipherment  by  his  own  efforts. 

Plate  III  has  no  apparent,  direct  connection  with  the  Biliteral  Cipher. 
Yet  it  is  exhibited  here  for  a  highly  important  purpose,  which  is  now  to  be 
explained.     The  connection  will  then,  it  is  hoped,  be  clear. 

In  the  citation  from  Bacon's  De  Jugmentis  Scientianim  given  on  p.  4 
above  is  the  following  language:  "Let  us  proceed  then  to  Ciphers.  Of 
these  there  are  many  kinds;  ....  ciphers  containing  two  different 
letters  in  one  character  [i.e.,  the  Biliteral  Cipher];  wheel-ciphers;  key- 
ciphers;  word-ciphers,  and  the  like."  The  Biliteral  Cipher,  as  has  been 
shown  above,  is  explained  and  the  key  thereto  is  furnished  by  Bacon  in  his 
"open"  or  acknowledged  work.  Years  of  labor  on  the  Biliteral  Cipher  and 
of  deciphering  the  hidden  messages  concealed  by  means  of  it  have  produced, 
among  other  things,  the  directions  for  the  use  and  "unraveling"  of  the 
Word  Cipher.  In  other  words,  unlike  the  Biliteral  Cipher,  the  Word 
Cipher  is  not  explained  by  Bacon  in  his  open  works,  but  is  alluded  to  only. 
The  directions  for  its  use — and  consequent  decipherment — are  concealed  in 


the  biliteral  pages  of  Bacon's  concealed  works,  and,  as  deciphered  by  means  of 
the   Biliteral  Cipher  there  contained,   they  read  as  shown   in   Plate   III, 

illustration  7. 

An  examination  of  Plate  III,  illustration  6,  discloses  the  following  trans- 
lation of  the  Biliteral  Cipher  concealed  in  the  Prologue:  "Francis  St. 
Alban,     ....     hid  in  his  writings  Homer's  Iliad     . 

Plate  III,  therefore,  if  its  several  illustrations  are  examined  in  the 
light  of  the  foregoing,  will  be  found  to  contain:  (1)  an  assertion  of  the 
"hiding"  of  the  Iliad,  "in  cipher"  (illustration  6);  (2)  directions  for  follow- 
ing the  Word  Cipher  (illustration  7);  (3)  "guides"  referred  to  in  the  direc- 
tions, and  constituting  an  essential  element  in  deciphering;  (4)  a  page  from 
the  play  of  Troilus  a^id  Cressida,  showing  passages,  words,  and  phrases 
inclosed  in  black  lines,  and  constituting  those  (on  that  page)  demanded  by 
the  rules  of  the  Word  Cipher  for  the  translation  of  the  Iliad;  (5)  passages 
of  the  translation  of  the  Iliad,  of  the  Continuation  of  the  New  Atlantis,  of 
the  Tragedy  of  Anne  Boleyn,  and  of  the  play  of  Sejanus,  all  obtained  through 
the  Word  Cipher. 

For  our  present  purpose  the  importance  of  these  incomplete  selections 
lies  in  the  fact  that  they  could  never  have  been  extracted  or  deciphered 
had  not  the  directions  for  so  doing  been  discovered  through  the  Biliteral 
Cipher.  The  latter,  therefore,  is  the  fundamental  keystone  of  the  arch 
or  entrance  through  which  we  may  gain  access  to  a  garden  whose  flowers  are 
choice  and  rare,  but  \\hich  until  now  have  remained  strange  and  unknown 
to  us.  The  Nezv  Atlantis  in  its  unfinished  state  has  been  the  despair  of 
students  of  Bacon.  The  completion  is  now  accessible  through  the  Biliteral 
and  Word  Ciphers.  Plays,  tragedies,  translations  of  the  Iliad,  the  Odyssey, 
and  the  Aeneid,  transcending  in  sonorous  diction  and  impressive  verbiage 
any  English  translation  known  (and  not  "that  by  Chapman,"  as  hinted  by 
Professor  Pierce),  have  lain  buried  for  three  hundred  years.  As  a  result 
of  Mrs.  Gallup's  labors,  some  have  already  been  completely  mined  and 
extracted;  others  are  in  process  of  decipherment. 

12 


A  vast  amount  of  work  has  been  done.  More  remains  ytt  to  he  done. 
The  liJihteral  Ciplier  is  the  ji;ate\vav  to  it  aU. 

If  the  fore^oinji  will  serve  to  awaken  an  interest  in,  and  to  promote  a 
study  of,  the  subject,  the  cause  of  EngHsh  literature  will  be  advanced — ■ 
its  enrichment  is  assured. 

It  remains  only  to  add  that  all  the  pages  dissected  in  these  plates  are 
photographed  from  genuine  originals  of  the  1623  Folio,  and  represent  the 
actual  appearance  of  the  printed  page.  The  Shakespearean  student  is,  of 
course,  familiar  with  the  fact  that  the  process  of  type-casting  as  well  as  that 
of  printing  was  more  or  less  crude  and  primitive  in  the  early  part  of  the  sev- 
enteenth century.  The  mold  from  which  the  type  was  cast  was  held  in  the 
hand;  the  molten  metal  was  poured  in,  and  hand  pressure  was  exerted  in 
forming  the  letter.  The  type  page  was  inked  by  hand  for  each  impression; 
the  ink  being  applied  to  the  type  by  balls  of  wool,  which  distributed  the  ink 
in  uneven  quantity — sometimes  in  clots,  sometimes  heavily,  sometimes 
lightly,  always  irregularly.  The  paper  was  moistened  before  receiving  the 
imi)ression,  and  this  was  irregularly  accomplished,  one  part  of  the  sheet 
often  being  less  damp  than  another  part,  resulting  in  greater  contraction  in 
some  places  than  in  others  in  the  process  of  drying.  All  these  facts  should 
be  kept  in  mind  as  important  details  when  examining  the  letters  of  each  form, 
and  particularly  when  examining  column  5  of  Plate  I.  They  will  be  found 
to  account  for  the  apparent  lack  of  resemblance  of  some  of  the  grouped 
letters.  The  use  of  a  magnifying  glass  will  assist  in  showing  that  the 
apparent  points  of  difference  between  letters  clearly  of  the  same  general 
characteristics  are  accountable  tor  by  one  or  more  of  the  facts  detailed  above. 

The  plates  inserted  in  this  book  are  miniatures  of  originals  designed 
for  hanging  in  libraries.  A  magnifying  glass  will  make  it  possible  to  read 
the  miniatures.  Inquiries  about  the  large  plates  may  be  addressed  to 
Riverbank  Laboratories,  Geneva,  Illinois. 


Notice 

It  is  a  serious  misfortune  to  the  cause  of  literature  and  of  science 
that  no  organized  body  exists  in  the  United  States  to  which  a  literary, 
historical,  or  scientific  question  may  be  submitted,  as  to  the  Academie 
Francaise  in  France. 

Not  only  do  we  lack  the  larger  and  more  comprehensive  body,  but 
we  have  no  National  Association  of  those  to  whom  Bacon's  works,  his 
history,  his  thoughts  and  his  aims  are  a  subject  of  study  and  discussion. 

With  the  object  of  establishing  a  common  meeting-ground  for  all 
such  students,  of  furthering  research  in  the  subject  presented  in  this 
pamphlet,  and  of  providing  a  literary  clearing-house  for  the  promulgation 
of  the  results  of  research  in  the  general  field  of  Baconian  literature, 

The  American  Academy  of  Baconian  Literature 

has  been  founded  with  a  temporary  organization  to  conduct  its  aflfairs 
until,  through  a  general  meeting  of  its  members,  a  permanent  organiza- 
tion can  be  eflFected.  Those  interested  are  urged  to  address,  for  all 
information, 

THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY  OF  BACONIAN  LITERATURE, 

Riverbank,  Geneva,  Illinois. 


Miniatures  of  Plates 

referred  to  throughout  the  text  as 

Plates  I,  II  and  III. 


A  magnifying  glass  will  assist  in  reading  these  miniatures. 

Regarding  (ull-size  exhibits  o(  these  plates 

see  last  paragraph  on  p.  i3. 


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